The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.

Share this review on

From the outset I would like to make it perfectly clear that the whole concept of insurance appals me.

We are made to pay out vast sums of money each year out of fear. Isn’t that the same as extortion?

We pay buildings and contents insurance on our homes in the event that we may come home one day to find that our house is no longer standing, or more realistically that some scumbag that can not be bothered to get out of bed and go to work to feed their drug habit has decided that your computer, D.V.D. player, microwave or whatever will buy their daily fix, decides that it's your turn to be robbed. In the process they wreck your property and leave you paranoid about leaving your house.

We pay car insurance every year, only to find that the ar****le that has just written off the car that you are still paying for has no insurance.

We pay life insurance in case we die in debt. Who collects it? The poor sod that has paid it, hardly! I could go on but I won’t, as this is a positive review about an excellent company that I had to deal with recently.

The name of that company is Pinnacle Insurance
PLC. Initially I had no idea that I would be dealing with them but I shall explain that matter as this tale unfolds.

As some of you will be aware earlier this year I was unable to work for three months due to a serious incapacity. At the point when I realised that I would not be returning to work as quickly as I had envisaged I remembered that I had some payment protection insurance on the finance that I had taken out to pay for my computer. My original intent was to pay after the 9 months interest free period but I foolishly spent the money.

I dug out the paperwork and registered my claim. It was at this point I was made aware that I would be dealing with Pinnacle. The forms duly arrived but there was a slight delay with the completion as my doctor was on holiday.

The company wrote to me asking me if I wished to pursue the claim after a couple of weeks had lapsed and I contacted them on their (excellent) website to inform them of the reason for delay. They e-mailed me on automatic response to inform me of receipt of my mail and then replied personally half an hour later!

The completed form was dispatched with copies of the information they required to substantiate my claim and I forgot about it.

I received a response a week or so later stating that they were requesting further information from my doctor, fine, I thought. You are going to be paying the money and I was hospitalised, I had no worries.

A week later a got the notification that because my incapacity was due to a previously diagnosed condition that my claim had been turned down. It was at this point that I exploded! My language was unprintable and my keyboard squealed with pain as I BANGED out my letter of appeal, which included explanations of the term spontaneous, my above outburst about the delights of insurance in general and a reference to ambulance chasers.

They were referring to my emphysema; I was admitted to hospital with a ‘spontaneous’ pnemothorax (collapsed lung). This information they gleamed from a repeat sick note written by the doctors’ receptionist and not the surgeon who operated on me.

The details of my condition are irrelevant here, but now we get to the good part. They actually listened. Not only did they listen but also they rang me on my mobile to inform me that in light of my further corroborating evidence they admitted that they were wrong.

This they confirmed in writing. They explained that the procedure for reimbursing me meant that the finance company would be paid by cheque and they (the finance company) are liable to pay me. Fine, I wasn’t in a rush for the money.

The finance company First National Tricity Finance, however were not so prompt. To the degree that I had to play telephone table tennis for a while, being bounced back and forth between the companies. That is until Pinnacle assured me, again via my mobile that they had paid the cheques over, they gave me the cheque numbers and asked if I wanted them to get on to the finance company on my behalf.

Now that IS customer service.

I would recommend this company to anyone who requires insurance, their range is extensive and their website can be found at http://www.pinnacle.co.uk.

Their operatives are efficient, polite and have the courtesy to ring you rather than you hanging on the phone getting annoyed at piped music.

Rate a review "exceptional" if it gives readers outstanding advice for making a good buying decision

The review covers all aspects of the product and its user-friendliness which would be relevant to making a product choice. All remarks are founded on evidence from personal experience and the author remains objective throughout. A reader could find sufficient information here to base his/her purchase decision on this review alone.

Rate a review "very helpful" if it clearly supports others in making a good buying decision

The review covers a wide range of product features and the author's position is clearly-explained, well-structured and founded, for the most part, on solid evidence. This review would be of great use to somebody making a product choice, but would have to be used in conjunction with other information sources.

Rate a review "not helpful" if it gives inaccurate, offensive and useless information.

The review is not a helpful decision-making aid. The information it provides is subjective and lacks foundation. Perhaps the content contains comments which do not relate to the product and may be offensive to other members.

Rate a review "off topic" if it has been posted in the wrong place and/or does not discuss the product.

Reviews relating to products in other categories, or those which stray onto unrelated subjects should be rated "off topic". This will let other readers know that they need not read the review when seeking information that would be useful in a purchase decision.